Suddenly wireless doesn't work on T60, except from LiveCD!

[John H]

Gutsy installed like a dream on my T60 and it's been working fine for at least a month, but this morning the wireless stopped working. Haven't changed anything, but it just won't go. Rebooted a couple times, still no go. But when I booted from the Gutsy LiveCD it worked just fine.

When I bootup from the HDD the little wireless antenna icon comes on solid for a second, then spends a few seconds flickering, then comes on solid again for a second. repeats this cycle endlessly. With the LiveCD it stays on solid.

So I'm convinced it's a software problem, not a hardware problem.

I went through a whole bunch of tutorials and debugging sessions on 'ubuntuforums', but all I really did was accumulate a bunch of data, most of which I have no idea what to do with.

Has anyone seen this before?

Here's a bunch o' data I accumulated:


lspci
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)

ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:DE:C7:C2:D8
inet6 addr: fe80::218:deff:fec7:c2d8/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:91 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:17976 (17.5 KB) TX bytes:27757 (27.1 KB)
Interrupt:21 Base address:0xe000 Memory:edf00000-edf00fff

eth0:avah Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:DE:C7:C2:D8
inet addr:169.254.11.106 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:21 Base address:0xe000 Memory:edf00000-edf00fff

iwlist scan
...
eth0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:6C:FA:99:76
ESSID:"Netgear541JH"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
Mode:Master
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Quality=78/100 Signal level=-56 dBm Noise level=-56 dBm
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : WEP-40
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : WEP-40
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Extra: Last beacon: 372ms ago

lshw -C network
...
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:18c7:c2:d8
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw3945 driverversion=1.2.2mp.ubuntu1 firmware=14.2 1:0 () latency=0 module=ipw3945 multicast=yes wireless=unassociated

route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
169.254.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0

ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:DE:C7:C2:D8
inet6 addr: fe80::218:deff:fec7:c2d8/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:446 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:67410 (65.8 KB) TX bytes:112128 (109.5 KB)
Interrupt:21 Base address:0xe000 Memory:edf00000-edf00fff

eth0:avah Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:18:DE:C7:C2:D8
inet addr:169.254.11.106 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:21 Base address:0xe000 Memory:edf00000-edf00fff

sudo dhclient
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.5
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:18c7:c2:d8
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:18c7:c2:d8
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

uname -r
2.6.22-14-generic

cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.1.1

ls -l /var/lib/dhcp3/
-rw-r--r-- 1 dhcp root 954 2007-12-02 08:42 dhclient.eth0.leases
-rw-r--r-- 1 dhcp root 0 2007-12-02 08:51 dhclient.leases

ls -l /etc/dhcp3/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1558 2007-09-07 08:31 dhclient.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-11-17 13:44 dhclient-enter-hooks.d
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-10-15 16:28 dhclient-exit-hooks.d

cat /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf
# Configuration file for /sbin/dhclient, which is included in Debian's
# dhcp3-client package.
#
# This is a sample configuration file for dhclient. See dhclient.conf's
# man page for more information about the syntax of this file
# and a more comprehensive list of the parameters understood by
# dhclient.
#
# Normally, if the DHCP server provides reasonable information and does
# not leave anything out (like the domain name, for example), then
# few changes must be made to this file, if any.
#

send host-name "<hostname>";
#send dhcp-client-identifier 1:0:a0:24fb:9c;
#send dhcp-lease-time 3600;
#supersede domain-name "fugue.com home.vix.com";
#prepend domain-name-servers 127.0.0.1;
request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
domain-name, domain-name-servers, host-name,
netbios-name-servers, netbios-scope;
#require subnet-mask, domain-name-servers;
timeout 30;
#retry 60;
#reboot 10;
#select-timeout 5;
#initial-interval 2;
#script "/etc/dhcp3/dhclient-script";
#media "-link0 -link1 -link2", "link0 link1";
#reject 192.33.137.209;

#alias {
# interface "eth0";
# fixed-address 192.5.5.213;
# option subnet-mask 255.255.255.255;
#}

#lease {
# interface "eth0";
# fixed-address 192.33.137.200;
# medium "link0 link1";
# option host-name "andare.swiftmedia.com";
# option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
# option broadcast-address 192.33.137.255;
# option routers 192.33.137.250;
# option domain-name-servers 127.0.0.1;
# renew 2 2000/1/12 00:00:01;
# rebind 2 2000/1/12 00:00:01;
# expire 2 2000/1/12 00:00:01;
#}

[rm]

Can you try deleting the network interface you have configured and starting another one from scratch?

[tarvoke]

when this happens to me (the flickering led sounds very familiar) it usually means I accidentally pressed fn-f5. normally what I have to do to fix it is press fn-f5 again (twice to get it back to the right state I think? or maybe just once if you don't have bluetooth) and then reboot the machine.

... in fact it happened to me earlier today!

weird that the livecd works, but maybe is possible it simply ignores the radio-off setting unlike the full installed os?

what is the output of iwconfig ? will show you if you are actually associated to your AP or not.

[John H]

I plugged an Airlink101 into the PCMCIA and it works. In fact, I'm on that computer right now, using that Airlink101 card.

Here's the iwconfig:

Code: Select all

iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"Netgear541JH"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:14:6C:FA:99:76   
          Bit Rate:48 Mb/s   Tx-Power:14 dBm   
          Retry limit:15   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=95/100  Signal level=-62 dBm  Noise level=-63 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:197   Missed beacon:0

wifi0     no wireless extensions.

ath0      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"Netgear541JH"  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:14:6C:FA:99:76   
          Bit Rate:5 Mb/s   Tx-Power:18 dBm   Sensitivity=1/1  
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=26/70  Signal level=-30 dBm  Noise level=-56 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:2183  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

[lightweight]

what happens when you force the internal Intel card to that access point?

Code: Select all

iwconfig eth0 essid Netgear541JH key [key]

Where [key] is replaced with your key (per iwlist output above that access point has a key).

[John H]

That syntax doesn't work.

Code: Select all

iwconfig: unknown command "key"

where "key" is the actual key.

If I leave it off:

Code: Select all

sudo iwconfig eth0 essid Netgear541JH
iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wifi0     no wireless extensions.

ath0      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"Netgear541JH"  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:14:6C:FA:99:76   
          Bit Rate:1 Mb/s   Tx-Power:18 dBm   Sensitivity=1/1  
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=36/70  Signal level=-60 dBm  Noise level=-96 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:10007  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth0      unassociated  ESSID:"Netgear541JH"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:14:6C:FA:99:76   
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power:16 dBm   
          Retry limit:15   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:603   Missed beacon:0

and I still require the Airlink101. The wireless icon still behaves the same way..

Maybe something in the BIOS that I have to reset before boot?

[John H]

I poked around in the BIOS settings and couldn't find anything likely.

Also tried XP and the builtin wireless doesn't come up there either.

[lightweight]

Sorry for the ambigious labels. [key] above is the second instance of key.

Code: Select all

iwconfig eth0 essid Netgear541JH key 01:23:45:67:89

where 01:23:45:67:89 is the actual key.

Your last iwconfig output shows the Airlink is still plugged in. Per your output earlier, both it and your Intel/internal wireless card are configured for eth0. It's possible the Intel is now bound to eth1, but these are things you can investigate later. For now remove the Airlink and ensure eth0 and ath0 are down. Then bring up the Intel/internal card. Reboot without the Airlink card if you want or have to.

But if the Intel/internal card doesn't work in XP either when it previously did, and the card still works with Ubuntu's live cd, that trully is weird.

[John H]

Can you try deleting the network interface you have configured and starting another one from scratch?

I'm not sure about HOW to delete a network interface (maybe edit "/etc/network/interfaces"?)

[rm]

Can you try deleting the network interface you have configured and starting another one from scratch?

I'm not sure about HOW to delete a network interface (maybe edit "/etc/network/interfaces"?)

Well, frankly, I don't know how to do it in Mint either. In PCLinuxOS it is very easy to do. Sorry.

[John H]

Sorry for the ambigious labels. [key] above is the second instance of key.

Code: Select all

iwconfig eth0 essid Netgear541JH key 01:23:45:67:89

where 01:23:45:67:89 is the actual key.

Your last iwconfig output shows the Airlink is still plugged in. Per your output earlier, both it and your Intel/internal wireless card are configured for eth0. It's possible the Intel is now bound to eth1, but these are things you can investigate later. For now remove the Airlink and ensure eth0 and ath0 are down. Then bring up the Intel/internal card. Reboot without the Airlink card if you want or have to.

But if the Intel/internal card doesn't work in XP either when it previously did, and the card still works with Ubuntu's live cd, that trully is weird.

What 'key' is that? Is it the AP password?

[lightweight]

What 'key' is that? Is it the AP password?

Yup -- whatever key is required to access your wireless net. You should have entered this key even when using the Airlink card, unless encryption was disabled for those trials.

(Disabling encryption on the access point as a test with your Intel card would be a good test to see if the problem is wpa, perhaps specifically /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf)

I'm not sure about HOW to delete a network interface (maybe edit "/etc/network/interfaces"?)

Linux Mint's about page describes it as a Debian variant, so yup. You shouldn't need to edit this file -- controlling default devices -- unless you plan to add a static route or ip though. Perhaps rm meant reinstalling the drivers, which may be of benefit but probably unnecessary. Once your device and the driver are started, wireless_tools/iwconfig/etc are your targets, as you've done in your first post.

HTH

[carbon_unit]

I don't think the OP is running Linux Mint. I thought he said Gutsy., anyway sometimes roaming mode gets disabled and the wireless won't connect. Try this:
Left click the connection manager icon, select "Manual Configuration". Click "Wireless Connection" and click the "Properties" button. Make sure the "Enable Roaming Mode" box is checked, clear out any manual settings. Reboot. After rebooting if it still does not work right click the connection manager icon and make sure that the "Enable Wireless" box is checked

[John H]

Problem solved! (slaps forehead with hand)

I just had to set the "Roaming" checkbox in the properties for the wireless connection. Somehow, I don't remember when or why, the actual network AP name was entered.

Now I have to figure out why XP isn't working. Or maybe it'll be fixed. Maybe the 'roaming' sets/resets a state variable in the hardware that isn't affected by a change of OS and/or a reboot.